


5 times Keith tries to ask Shiro out to a Valentine's dinner + the one time he actually does

by JackalGoddess



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5+1 Things, M/M, Married Sheith, Post Season 8, Sheithlentines 2019, Valentine's Day, but in an unconventional way because that's how i roll, keith and lance are good friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 21:00:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17774147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackalGoddess/pseuds/JackalGoddess
Summary: Keith tries to ask Shiro out to a romantic Valentine's dinner. Distractions and antics ensue.





	5 times Keith tries to ask Shiro out to a Valentine's dinner + the one time he actually does

**Author's Note:**

> For [houseofpaincakes](http://houseofpaincakes.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.
> 
> this was challenging, but overall really fun to write! huge thanks to [imsopeanutbutterandjealous](https://imsopeanutbutterandjealous.tumblr.com/) for being a patient and encouraging beta! :') please enjoy! (a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶i̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶h̶a̶l̶f̶w̶a̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶w̶r̶i̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶i̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶"̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶r̶a̶c̶t̶e̶r̶?̶"̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶i̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶i̶z̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶8̶ ̶s̶o̶)

 

 

i. Stress

“You’ve been married for five years, Keith.”

At that, Keith let out an exasperated sigh and threw his hands up in the air unceremoniously before letting his forehead fall down onto the table. The noise drew a few startled glances from other people in the Garrison cafeteria, but Keith couldn’t bring himself to care. “I know,” he groaned, half muffled. “That still doesn’t make this any easier.”

“Sure it does!” Lance said encouragingly. “Five years of marriage plus however many years of pining before that. You practically know everything there is to know about each other!”

Lance was right, Keith _did_ know pretty much everything there was to know about Shiro. Shortly after the end of the war, he has finally gotten the courage to ask Shiro out on a date. After dating for a few months, it was actually Shiro who surprised Keith with his proposal. He smiled a little at the memory.

Picking his head up, Keith rested his chin on his palm. “I just want it to be something special. He deserves it. He’s been working really hard these past few months.” He paused for a second, before asking, “What are you and Allura doing for Valentine’s Day?” Maybe that would help him gather some ideas?

Lance perked up immediately, beginning to wave his hands in the air animatedly. “Well, I know we’ve all been back on Earth for a few years, but Valentine’s Day is still a relatively new tradition for her, y’know? So this year I was thinking about surprising her with a nice dinner, except I can’t really cook all that well, so I’ve been having Hunk help me out. I was also planning on watching a bunch of garbage rom-coms with her.”

Keith tilted his head a little and gave Lance a small smile. “That’s sweet.” Truth was, Keith had also thought about surprising Shiro with a nice dinner, but it wasn’t like either of them could cook. What he really wanted to do was take Shiro out of the Garrison, maybe drive into the big city, anything to get him away from the work atmosphere.  
“You’ll figure it out,” Lance said with a knowing smirk. He stood up then and gave Keith’s shoulder a few pats before sauntering off to who knows where.

 

Keith shifted his weight from foot to foot, awkwardly checking the time as he stood next to his and Shiro’s shared hoverbike. He felt his resolve weakening as the seconds ticked by. Of all the days for his husband to run late.

James threw a look his way and Keith felt his face heat up slightly, but he quickly brushed it off as he caught sight of Shiro.

“Shiro!” Keith called, waving him over with a smile.

Shiro looked up from whatever he was doing on his tablet and gave him a smile, albeit a tired one, as he walked towards the vehicle.

Keith felt his resolve falter yet again. Perhaps now wasn’t the best time to ask? He hated feeling like an awkward preteen, what with all of his assuredly unwarranted nervousness.

“Hey, Keith.” His voice seemed slightly troubled as he spoke.

“Hey, Shiro,” Keith returned. “Everything alright?”

Shiro nodded, rubbing a hand down his face. “Been a long day. Seems like everything that could go wrong today, did.” Keith placed a hand on his shoulder, their seemingly go-to comfort gesture.

“Well, it’s over now, yeah? Let’s just go home and watch some shitty movies or something, maybe that’ll cheer you up.” He leaned up and placed a soft kiss on Shiro’s cheek, Valentine’s plans put on the back burner for the time being.

* * *

 

 

ii. Interruption

“I hope you know I have no idea what I’m doing, Pidge.”

“Quiet, just hand me a wrench already. You do know what a wrench is, right?” She teased, accidentally smudging oil across her face as she rubbed at her nose.

Keith just huffed, plopping the tool down into her outstretched hand. “Of course I do. What are you working on, anyway?”

“A Love Bot!” she proclaimed loudly, throwing her hands up into the air.

“...a ‘Love Bot’?” he asked cautiously. He had no idea what that entailed.

“Yeah! It’s a little something that Hunk and I have been brainstorming for awhile now. See, not everyone has a ‘special someone’ on Valentine’s Day, so this little bot will run around the Garrison showering people with nice compliments when the day arrives,” she explained, focusing the majority of her attention on the little robot in front of her. “Still need to do the majority of his programing, run diagnostics, and all that, but you get the point.”

Keith smiled down at her. She had grown a lot since the war. Just looking at her now fuller face reminded him of how much time had passed. “That’s a really nice thing to do,” he settled for.

She hummed noncommittally, holding her hand out again for another tool. “You and Shiro doing anything for Valentine’s Day? A cheesy movie? A moonlit drive? Or perhaps something... a little less PG?” she asked, elbowing him in the ribs and wiggling her eyebrows.

“Pidge!” Keith squawked indignantly. They were adults, dammit! He shouldn’t feel heat rising to his cheeks, but here they were. “I have something planned, but it’s a surprise.”

“Ooh?” she teased, continuing to wiggle her eyebrows.  
He just rolled his eyes fondly in return.

“Hey, after I finish up here, do you wanna go grab lunch together?” Pidge asked, dropping the topic and going back to focusing on her creation.

Lunch. _Shit_.

“I completely forgot!” Keith exclaimed, tools clattering everywhere as he bolted up. “I told Shiro that I would meet him for lunch today,” he explained, shooting Pidge what hopefully came across as an apologetic glance as he began to make his way out of the room.

“Maybe some other time!” she called after him, no detectable disappointment in her voice.

He pushed past a multitude of Garrison personnel, rushing out apologies as he went.

“Shiro,” Keith said when he finally got to the cafeteria, slightly out of breath. “I’m sorry, I got caught up helping Pidge.” He slid into the seat across from Shiro, smiling up at him apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it,” Shiro said, smiling back softly. He pushed a tray towards Keith, leaving them in comfortable silence as they ate.

Keith enjoyed moments like this. Moments where it was just them, moments when it seemed like the rest of the world fell away and nobody could disrupt the serene haven they’d built around themselves. Now would be the perfect time to ask about his Valentine’s plans…

“Hey, Shiro, would--”

“Shiro!” a voice rang out from across the room. “Shiro,” the person said again, panting slightly as he jogged up to their shared table. “Something is malfunctioning in the Atlas’ computer systems, Allura has requested your assistance immediately.”

“Sorry, Keith…” Shiro trailed off, flashing Keith a guilty smile as he stood up. He leaned down and gave Keith a soft kiss on his forehead and a small wave before walking away with the Garrison tech.

‘ _So much for that plan…_ ’

* * *

 

 

iii. Responsibilities

“ _Lance_ , I’m _busy_ ,” Keith groaned, not looking up from the paperwork he was currently completing. He didn’t want to be stuck doing all of it at home. “Some of us actually have responsibilities.”

“C’mon, man! It won’t take long, I swear. Hunk will really appreciate the help.” Lance gave Keith’s sleeve another persistent tug.

Groaning again, Keith pushed himself away from his paperwork and stood up, albeit reluctantly.

Lance cheered, pumping a fist in the air triumphantly. He pulled Keith behind him and into the kitchen where pleasing aromas filled his nose, no doubt Hunk’s doing.

“I can’t cook,” Keith said matter of factly, crossing his lean arms over his chest.

“That’s fine!” Hunk called from across the room. “I was just wondering if you and Lance could help me decorate these cookies?” He turned around, a tray of freshly baked heart-shaped sugar cookies in his hands. “There’s some red and pink frosting over on that table. Lance probably dragged the sprinkles out already.”

“That I did,” Lance said, looking more ready to devour the cookies than decorate them.

Hunk set the tray down and slapped Lance’s hand away with a smile. “Not yet. Wait until they’re all done.” He handed a frosting spatula to both of them, and they got to work.

 

Keith wrinkled his nose as he looked down at the cookies he’d frosted. They were… _interesting_ , he supposed. Not awful, but it was evident that this wasn’t his realm of expertise.

Adding a few more pink sprinkles to one of the cookies, Keith looked up to see the rest of them had already been finished.

“Thank you for the help, guys! I really appreciate it,” Hunk said with a glowing smile, already starting to pack away the cookies so they would actually make it to Valentine’s day.

“Hey Hunk? Can I take a few of these?”

 

“Mind if I come in?” Keith asked, standing in the doorway of Shiro’s office. The poor man looked absolutely swamped with a multitude of documents, brows drawn downward in concentration.

‘ _Cute_ ,’ he thought, smiling to himself.

“You know you don’t have to ask,” Shiro chuckled. “I’m so glad to see you, Keith. It’s been a crazy day.”

“I brought you something,” he said, sliding into the seat across from Shiro. Shiro raised one of his eyebrows, and Keith handed him a small plate with some of the cookies he’d frosted on it. “A happy early Valentine’s day, of sorts.”

“Thank you, they look and smell delicious.” Shiro reached out and gave Keith’s hand a squeeze, offering a smile. He took a bite out of one, and Keith had to suppress a laugh as crumbs clung all around his mouth.

He reached his free hand out and wiped the crumbs from Shiro’s chin, laughing at his husband’s startled reaction and subsequent embarrassed blush. “Want me to help you with that?” he asked, gesturing towards the paperwork.

“I would say no, but you know I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to spend time with you.”

Keith just grinned.

* * *

 

 

iv. Educating

Shiro and Keith exchanged a glance, unsure. This wasn’t how they imagined they’d be spending their lunch break.

“I’d like to know more about Earth’s love holiday traditions! Back on Altea, we would do an annual Cittok hunt and present the carcass to our loves ones. Do you have anything like that on your planet?” Coran asked excitedly, sitting across from them.

“Um, no, not exactly…” Shiro started awkwardly, unsure of how to respond.

“It’s called Valentine’s day, and we generally don’t go around killing things to show our love or whatever…” Keith explained, equally as unsure.

“Well then what _do_ you do?” Coran leaned forward on his elbows, resembling more of an enthusiastic child than a 10,000+ year old man. “Would you be willing to show me some of your festivity traditions? I’m sure you two are well-versed in this topic.”

Keith wasn’t so sure about that. In the years since the end of the war, they’d all been so busy repairing, rebuilding, and readjusting that Valentine’s day had taken a back seat. There was just so much to do and so little time. This was the first real Valentine’s day that they all had a chance to celebrate since their return, hence Keith’s nervousness.

“Well, we can certainly try, maybe give you a basic run down?” Shiro offered with a smile.

Coran’s whoop was almost deafening.

 

“What do you include in these cards?”

“There’s really no rules to it,” Shiro explained. “It’s just whatever you want to write to someone you love.”

Coran started writing in Altean rapidly, writing what appeared to be an entire essay.

“It… doesn’t have to be that long. Sometimes it’s better for it to be short and sweet?” Keith tried.

Coran looked up and nodded attentively.

 

Throughout the short period of time they spent educating Coran, Keith kept thinking about his own Valentine’s day plans. He sincerely wanted to ask Shiro, but the timing just didn’t seem to be right.

Shiro had relaxed, smiling wrinkles present at the corners of his eyes as he watched Coran’s antics. The redhead was currently trying to get the hang of frosting cookies, somehow managing to get some of it on his forehead. Keith snorted.

They had gotten him to try eating a variety of Valentine’s treats, like conversation hearts, Hershey’s Kisses, and even some chocolate strawberries that Hunk had whipped up earlier.

Keith grinned, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the counter as he watched Shiro patiently explain the purpose of sprinkles.

This year’s Valentine’s day was going to be a sight to behold. If only he could finally ask Shiro to enjoy it with him.

* * *

 

 

v. Preparing

“Hello? … Yeah, table for two, please. … Name? Keith Shirogane. … Tomorrow, correct. … Yes, thank you.“ Keith ended the call, holding the phone to his chest. There was no turning back, now all he had to do was ask Shiro to go to a nice dinner with him.

“Who were you talking to?”

Keith spun around, startled, clutching his chest even tighter than he was before. “Allura,” he breathed out, slumping slightly. “I was just making a reservation for dinner at a nice restaurant in the city, le Moment d’Or…”

“Oh, for your Valentine’s day holiday? For you and Shiro?” Allura asked, perking up.

“Yeah, I just need to find a good time to ask,” he replied, toeing at the ground. “Everything’s just been so busy, but I don’t want to miss another Valentine’s day.”

“Tomorrow’s the day, correct?”

“Yeah.” Quietly. “I hope he doesn’t think that I’ve forgotten. I know we’ve been preoccupied in the past.”

“You’ll be fine, Keith,” she assured, touching his arm lightly before letting her hand drop back down at her side.

He knew everything would be fine. Now he just had to wait for tomorrow...

* * *

 

+i. Finally

Today was the day. Surprisingly, decorations possessing pink and red hues were all over the Galaxy Garrison. Everything seemed much more lax, smiles present on almost everyone’s faces. Even Iverson had a smile in his eyes.

Keith let out a startled laugh as Pidge’s Love Bot blasted by his feet, followed shortly by Pidge herself running by, cursing under her breath.

“I’m not finished with you!” she shrieked, rounding the corner.

Keith just smiled, shaking his head.

Less than 7 hours until he could go home.

 

“O-oh, wow, you look nice Keith,” Shiro said, ice cream halfway out of their freezer.

Keith ducked his head, smiling. He had emerged from their room wearing a black tux, his hair tied back in a low ponytail. “Thanks,” he said softly, walking over and leaning on the kitchen counter.

“What’s the occasion?” Shiro asked, eying his husband up and down appreciatively.

“Well, I made us a reservation at le Moment d’Or, and I was wondering if you felt up to it?” Smooth, Keith, real smooth.

All of his anxiety washed away as soon as he saw Shiro’s expression. He was positively glowing, a youthful grin gracing his features.

“A romantic Valentine’s dinner with my beautiful husband?” Shiro started, crossing the kitchen and wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist, face pressing into his hair so his words were slightly muffled. “Of course, Keith, I’d love that.”

Keith just grinned, loosely returning the hug as he leaned up to press his lips to Shiro’s.

**Author's Note:**

> hope this was okay! thank you for reading! :) 
> 
> (i might add an extra chapter later with them at the dinner/after dinner, who knows. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯)


End file.
